Abstract
Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil (GRS) integral bridge, which fixes the girder on the top of GRS abutment, provides high performance against traffic load and earthquake thanks to the unity of abut wall and GRS. On the other side this type of bridge is subject to statically indeterminate force caused by the abut wall and GRS restraining the girder from volumetric change. Especially, long-term deformation by shrinkage and creep tends to arise on concrete girders.
The authors examine long-term behavior of the first constructed GRS integral bridge by site measurement and thermo-hygral multi scale analysis. The integrity of the bridge and GRS was verified by 4 years history of the geosynthetic's strain and the girder's longitudinal displacement. The reliability of the analysis, considering the effect of rainfall, was confirmed by comparison with measured displacement and rebar strain of the girder. Finally, the stability of GRS integral bridge against long-term volumetric change of concrete was verified up to 100 years of design life.
